Saturday, February 27, 2016

7 reasons why our riders return year after year...according to a recent participant of our BC "Sea to Sky" trip.

1. The sense of freedom – all I have to
worry about is getting to the end of each day in one piece. And that itself is
hardly a worry as I had complete faith in our Big Mountain Bike Adventures' guides not pushing as past
our abilities. Just getting on that bike in yet another exquisite location and
just turning the pedal – what a privilege !2. The sense of
actually experiencing the country , not just being an observer from a vehicle .
Similar I guess to hiking but I think the added adrenalin further connects you
to your environment.

3. The balance
between exercise , great food, good sightings , special
accommodation
– in fact I think you have got the balance pretty perfect for a bunch of
middle-agers trying to stay in touch with our youth !

4. The riding was
wonderfully varied and always seems to have one testing day, just lovely. Exactly what we need to remind us just to go out and do
it.

5. Then of course the
fun of spending time with our friends. Somehow there is a constant cocktail of
irreverent mischief that follows this group. And this is where I would most like to compliment your guiding style – you
calmly dealt with too much noise , terrible language and generally poor
behaviour , without so much as developing a nervous tic. 6. The local guides
all add a special touch to the day – we just know we are going to experience
the best the terrain can offer. 7. I personally
thought this trip offered us the best mix of all of the element of the previous trips , including
the culture on offer!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Progress...
Since we first rode this trail nearly a decade ago we've been preaching that it's one of the best. Not just one of the best, but one of the best on the planet. It's called Olleros and the stats are impressive: 56 kms long, start at 3700 meters, end on the Pacific shore. 11,000 foot descent of arid goodness with sections like a pump track that lasts 15 minutes on a spectacular high-alpine ridge. Just last week we received word from our guides that a new road is being built and the trail wont be as it was. Those of you who joined us over the years and rode this one, it's now just a memory! The good news is that we're replacing the Olleros trail with another amazing called Villa Quipan...38 kms long, 9842 feet descent...no slouch at all. And as our guides tell us about Villa Quipan, "one of the most amazing trails in the Andes."
What are you doing this spring? Come join us April 15-24, 2016. Click here for the details.

Monday, May 11, 2015

This is a message from our guides, partners and staff in Kathmandu.
Dated: May 10, 2015.

Photo: Dan Barham

We've had so many messages from around the world checking in on us and the situation here, there's a lot of love for Nepal and people want to help. We're doing our bit here and we would like to ask that you also help Nepal in this time of need, by doing what you're good at.

Huge efforts are going into getting emergency shelter and food out. Local NGOs and businesses, private individuals and groups just mobilized in any way they could to get food and shelter out to where it is needed. It has been amazing. Yet it’s just a drop in the ocean. I am sure you have seen pictures or read about whole villages flattened – it’s just surreal to sit here in Kathmandu (which is amazingly functional) writing to you about this.

All of our guides, staff and their families are ok, even though houses damaged and people are sleeping outside. We have been able to distribute tents and food and will be doing more – what we can while still paying our staff their salaries and ensuring jobs for our team in the future. The team has been busy getting the relief materials sent out, providing logistical support to get a field hospital up and running, looking for areas of need and how we can help and fundraising for local NGOs. This is all on top of their own obligations to their family’s safety in a disaster zone.

Some areas are still in 'relief' stage, we're even hearing of areas, still, that have not been reached at all. Then some have already moved past that, rebuilding has started in Kathmandu. Donating money is the key to the initial relief stage and please let us know if you would like further information on where/how to donate as not all organizations are equal.

Next is the rebuild. Even more mind boggling than the relief needs, it's looking like 500,000 houses will need to be rebuilt. People who have lost everything must try to rebuild their lives when skilled labour (for safe building) will likely be in short supply.

Of course tourism is our thing so we have a vested interest, but we know that it is an essential part of rebuilding Nepal, giving hope in the form of jobs and income with which to rebuild shattered lives. Foreign aid and handouts are necessary initial stages, but true sustainable rebuilding requires jobs.

So please help us get the message out that Nepal is a good travel choice, as time spent here will be helping people to rebuild by sustaining jobs and hope. It has been said that one tourist provides nine people with jobs, which is an incredible amount, nine families that have some hope for every single tourist that visits. We mean of course ethical travel that is safe and respectful for the travelers and the people of Nepal. Travel that brings in much need revenue to the country to sustain fair salaries and wages. Travel that is not voyeuristic and hence would not go to the affected areas, but will spread the income as far as possible through jobs and income.

Please help us by spreading the word about what an amazing destination Nepal is and how helpful ethical tourism can be to rebuild Nepal!

Timing is important, and right now is not the time to come but plan to come. With the progress already made it is estimated that the airport will be completely back to normal and most international relief workers gone in a month. Nepal is still an incredible destination and the images portrayed in the media are very localized.

We have two departures to Nepal this fall on our incredible Himalaya Heights trip: October 9 and November 9. Get in touch with us!

Thank you in advance for your support. From our team in Kathmandu and beyond.

Friday, November 14, 2014

For years I’d heard the stories from close friends
who’d lived in the Yukon, friends who described the place passionately with hands
and arms flailing and eyes wide open and alive, “the views are like nothing
you’ve ever seen with endless untouched forests, pristine rivers and lakes and
big and inviting mountain ranges everywhere,” they’d tell me. “You can
basically walk out your door to 1000 miles of nature all around you.” I
listened with keen interest as I’ve always been into outdoor adventure.

And
then came the larger-than-life stories of characters that they’d met in the
Yukon. “There’s this one guy that I became friends with who’s a total animal on
skis,” recalled Anthony, who’s now back in Montreal. “Basically he was this unknown
and unassuming guy who all but walked out of the woods and decided on a whim to
compete in a national cross-country race and he destroyed the world-class field
of competitors. And he did the same thing in a cross-country mountain bike race
too. We climbed and skied all kinds of mountains together - you have to meet
him!” The stories continued, the years passed and as it happens, these friends of
mine no longer live in the Yukon.

Then I met Ray. Ray is one of the most passionate
and warm-hearted people that I have ever crossed paths with. And guess what? He
told me similar stories – the epic adventures to be had, the amazing people and
the unreal natural landscape all around. And just like my friends before, when
he described the Yukon he spoke with reckless passion – arms flailing and eyes
glowing - he was practically dancing when he talked about the place. Then he
invited me up, and I went. We mountain biked and our trip was magical.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Food and mountain biking find their heavenly match in Liguria, Italy

“Buon
giorno!” Antonio greets me heartily as he looks up from watering his plants,
smiling. Our host and chef at the agriturismo "A ca Vegia" doesn't
speak a word of English — the norm for most people of the older generations in
Italy — but I can tell by his gestures towards the green valley bathed in sun
that he is admiring another perfect-weather day in Liguria.

Downtown Finale Lirure is beautiful.

Our
hilltop retreat at A ca Vegia overlooks the township of Finale de Ligure, one
of the many towns along the Italian Riviera. Finale is the first stop on Big Mountain Bike Adventures' Bella Rivera DH, a week-long downhill mountain bike
tour of the Ligurian coast shuttling some of the country's finest trails, and
gorging on arguably the best home cooking in the world.

Mountain biking has existed here since the early '90s with many of Italy's cross-country
racers using the hills surrounding Finale as a training ground. But after
Canadian freeride pioneers Brett Tippie, Wade Simmons and Richie Schley
(namesake for Whistler Mountain Bike Park's "Schleyer" trail) visited
Finale to film for the Kranked film series in 1999, the local mountain bikers
began to put shovels in the dirt to build their own downhill-centric descents.

Guide extraordinaire Louise. There's no one better to show you the trails, and more.

"(The
Kranked crew) rode XC trails jumping from one side of the trail to the other,
playing around and having so much fun with their bikes," said Allesandro
Molini, a born and raised Finale local and guide for Big Mountain Adventures.

"It
was an explosion. After that (the locals) started to build trails just for
fun."

Finale
de Ligure has since become a popular destination for British and European
mountain bikers looking for easily accessed trails and reliable, sunny weather.
Trails range from berm-filled downhill descents, jumps and stunts to the 2013
Super Enduro course, all with views stretching along the beaches of the
Ligurian Sea.

With
as many shuttles as our group can handle, for two days we sample trails that
finish either in the town or on the beach, the locals barely noticing trains of
riders donning full face helmets and body armour. Bikers are welcome here,
providing much needed tourism after years of declining mainstream tourist
visits to Italy.

Mid-descent. Yes, that's Finale Ligure way way down there on the Med.

A
new destination is on the cards tomorrow, requiring a send off from the
hospitable folks at A ca Vegia. Glasses of Prosecco clink as another gargantuan
four course meal emerges from Antonio's kitchen.

Good
thing we don't have to pedal uphill tomorrow.

The Witching Hour

Driving
west along the coast and turning up the steep Valle Argentina, we soon arrive
at the tiny crow's nest village of Triora. A dark history permeates the alleys
and cobblestone streets, testament to the brutal witch trials held by the Holy
Inquisition in the late 16th Century. Today the locals celebrate the morbid
legacy of putting the witches on trial and burning witches by selling
wart-nosed witch dolls and Halloween decorations year round, as well as
celebrating several witch-themed festivals throughout the year.

The
steep walls of the valley meant most paths were originally built to traverse
the hillsides, used by hunters stalking game and peasants harvesting the
numerous chestnut plantations. But the trails are not without their challenging
sections; rocks and roots protrude out of the soil and the exposure off to the
side requires disciplined braking and line choice. Ancient medieval bridges and
simple stone shrines honouring the Virgin Mary are just a few of the historic
treasures we pass by as we descend towards the valley floor.

Nice spot to be at the end of the day.

We
break for lunch in Triora's town square, the iron sculpture of a hooded witch –
complete with cauldron and broomstick – overseeing our four courses of
bruschetta, meats and cheeses, pasta and tiramisu. I order a double espresso to
shake off the afternoon fatigue, but our first ride after lunch turns out to be
a spectacular wake up call.

We
descend directly from the restaurant in Triora to the satellite village of
Molini, bikes buzzing down the vacant stone walkways. Riding through the town's
deserted cobble-stoned alleys with cats scattering into the shadows, you can't
help but feel that the souls of those "witches" haunt the place
several centuries later.

The
hills have their share of history as well. During World War II the area was a
staging ground for the guerrilla attacks against Italy's fascist rule, the
roads that provide such convenience for shuttling mountain bikers were refined
by Nazi Germany to move troops and armour faster inland from the Mediterranean.
Now the majority of traffic is relatively peaceful with shuttle vans and
motorcycle groups.

A SUPER fun trail deep in Europe's largest beach forest.

The
Santo Spirito Hotel is our dinner and bed for the next two nights, and its
chefs have been hard at work to give our hungry group of mountain bikers the
meals of our lives, which after Antonio's magic will not be easy.

Two
more days of riding and eating lay ahead of me. Without a single hill to climb
on this mountain bike vacation, I'll be needing an endurance of a different
kind.

Friday, December 20, 2013

This is a photo compilation that was posted on Pinkbike.com back in May of this year. We figured that since the year was coming to an end we'd bring it back. Enjoy!

This photo-essay shares a few highlights from Big Mountain Advenures
(BMA), the Whistler-based mountain bike tour company that turns 10 this
year. This is a brief history for Big Mountain, but really its roots
started growing back in the early-70's...

Circa 1977, BMA founder Chris Winter getting a taste of cycling tours
from the back of his dad's custom tandem on a month-long camping trip
with 30 high school kids. Winter's pioneering parents started running
road bike trips in 1972 to Europe and Canada's maritime provinces. The
company, called Cycleventures still exists today, 41 years later.

The wheels were set in motion for the idea of developing an
international mountain bike travel company during the winter of 2001
while eating fondue and drinking wine in a little chalet perched above
the town of Haute Nendaz, in the Swiss Alps. Winter met local Francois
Panchard earlier that year on the internet as he researched riding
options in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The two hit it off
like old friends and realized that they both shared a passion for
mountain biking and exploring new terrain. In this 2002 photo, Paddy
Kaye, Ryan Bowland & Winter ride the Col de Mines, Verbier,
Switzerland.

On this first exploratory trip Panchard eagerly dragged Kaye, Bowland
and Winter all over his local mountains, linking up rides with buses,
trains, lifts and a shuttle truck. Panchard’s bike that year was a 25
pound fully rigid with v-brakes that he climbed like the wind. The bikes
of choice in Whistler at the time were heavy overbuilt freeride bikes
with double-crown forks and 3” tires built for jumping off roofs and big
stunts. And jeans and flannel shirts as riding apparel. Needless to
say, the Whistler crew got worked pretty hard on that first trip, but
they still returned blown away by the riding. This photo is Winter
taking trip notes after a long stretch of back to back big epics in the
Alps. Tired, but very happy.

In Switzerland every ride requires a map and serious logistical planning
to link the details together. Besides the amazing rides, what stood out
for the Canadians was the lack of riders they saw on any given day and
the unreal transportation network. And unlike riding in Whistler, every
ride in Switzerland is a high alpine epic accessed by a lift or paved
road usually with a cafe at the top. Each day became a top 10 of all
time. In this photo, Panchard & Blaise Mettan scope new lines in
their backyard.

Winter was so excited about his Swiss experiences that he and Panchard
hatched up a grander adventure for the next year, 2003. Panchard dubbed
it the Crazy Canuck Freeride Challenge (CCFC) based on the ambitious
itinerary and the all-star crew of fired-up BC riders and local Swiss
riders invited. This photo shows the modest view from their digs in
Zermatt and JJ Desormeaux heading out for a day of big mountain riding
on his Chromag on singletrack that could not have been closer to the front door.

Panchard laid out an ambitious riding itinerary that encompassed rides
that overlooked Lake Geneva to rides on the doorstep of Mont Blanc and a
long list of loops on both flanks of the Rhone valley through Martigny,
Sion, Sierre and onto Brig and Zermatt. Many of the rides had barely
seen bikes. This 2003 pic is Squamish-based Chad "The Champ" Onyschuk
hanging it out on the Dent de Morcles. A hike-a-bike to end all
hike-a-bikes that led to an extra large descent.

Nights on the CCFC were spent packed into his small chalet pouring over
maps, listening to techno music, drinking too much beer and wine, or
spent in a mountain hut, drinking too much beer and wine. In this
photograph night had fallen, the group had ridden a massive day and had
caught the very last lift, just in the nick of Swiss time, to an alpine
hut for the night. Panchard (second from left with beer in hand) set the
bar very high on the CCFC, and it was met with great enthusiasm as the
smiling Sean Dinwoodie attests.

Guides Joe Schwartz & Chris Winter descend the final stretch to the Hotel La Vallee
in Lourtier, Switzerland, Big Mountain Adventures' European
headquarters in the heart of the Alps. The hotel is run by the skiing
and mountain biking Pellissier family who are the warmest mountain hosts
after a big day of riding.

This photo is Big Mountain Adventures' backyard, exploring deep into
BC's South Chilcotins region with good friends and a flight from Tyax
Air. BMA has spent a decade exploring some of the far reaches of the
earth in search of great singletrack and great trips. Each time the crew
returns home though, the riding and culture out its front door become
just a little sweeter. The company also run some impressive itineraries
out of Vancouver that encompass Squamish, Pemberton, Whistler, the South
Chilcotins and the North Shore.

Fall '04 was their first trip to Morocco led by Montreal-based Dave
MacDougall who’d been guiding and living in Marrakech on and off for a
decade. After an amazing eight days of remote desert riding, on a whim,
MacDougall had this first group climb North Africa's highest peak, Mount
Toubkal. A side-trip that goes down in the books. BMA knew that this
would be the first of many visits to Morocco. Here, Andrew Shandro is
seen flying high in remote mountains on the edge of the Sahara while
Vanderham carves a giant red wall while filming for The Collective.

Early in ‘05 a big crew left the snow and rain of Coastal BC and headed
south to the palm trees Costa Rica to ride with legendary San Jose-based
guide Paulo Valle. The trip ended with a few deserved days of surf and
sun on the worldclass beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula. Since then Valle
has hosted hundreds of BMA riders and created lifelong memories. In this
photo Valle admires a killer view in his beautiful country.

Along with leading trips for clients, BMA also produces corporate and
media events. Here, locals Fabio Bernardi & Paolo Tossi drop down to
their beautiful hometown, Cortina D'Ampezzo while researching routes
for a Trek Bicycles event in 2012.

Peru remains one of Big Mountain's most popular destinations. It's for
good reason, it's one of the best places to mountain bike on the planet.
The Andes are extra grande, the second biggest mountain range the
world. Add the fact that their mountains are arid, that the Incas
happened to be master trail builders and you've got a recipe for a whole
lot of good times on a mountain bike. Rider: Justin Mark.

For a number of years Big Mountain ran a mountain bike safari trip in
South Africa and Botswana where you'd ride from luxury camp to luxury
camp in a 70,000 acre game reserve. Kinda like being inside the cages of
a zoo, except without the fences. The trip is no longer, at least for
the time being. This photo is a group racing the sun back to camp. When
the sun sets in Botswana the predators come out to hunt. Lions,
leopards; a different kind of technical. It's a good thing guides carry
big-ass guns just in case.

Mr. Wade Simmons with Chile's Villarrica volcano looming in the
background. Not all destinations have made the cut for a BMA trip. Chile
is one of them, at least not yet. It has all the features of a
world-class adventure mountain bike destination but its unique geography
makes logistics difficult and expensive.

This is mountain bike-crazy Rotorua, New Zealand. A truly great place to
ride if you get the chance. Every town planner should go to Rotorua and
take some notes in their Whakarewarewa Forest trail network. Task #1 is
to figure out how to pronounce the name. They've created an extensive
network of great trails within a concentrated area minutes from town.
Easy climbs to trail heads, trails for all levels of riders and a killer
shuttle service. The dirt there is pretty much perfect for trail
building. Lucky them. Rotorua. Rocks.

Dropping down to dreamy Lahaina, Maui with Lanai island in the distance.
There are pockets of good riding on Maui but not enough to warrant
bringing your mountain bike instead of your surf board, yet. This is
local mountain bike advocate 'Moose' leading the charge on a killer
evening ride.

Wherever they travel, Big Mountain's mission is to support the local
economy by partnering with the very best local guides and tour operators
at its destinations. It also has had the pleasure of working with a
number of celebrated guides like Joe Schwartz, Wade Simmons, Lorraine
Blancher, Paulo Valle, Wayo Stein, Andreas Hestler, Seb Kemp, Louise
Paulin and Stephen Matthews, to name just a few. Here, Kemp is right at
home on the planet's biggest mountains, on BMA's Nepal 'Himalaya
Heights' trip.

What's in store for the next decade at Big Mountain Adventures? Continue
to fine-tune and improve their current roster of destinations, develop
new itineraries and keep inspiring people to ride their bikes and love
our sport. The search continues...

Thursday, October 10, 2013

One thing that makes our sport unique is the different natural
landscapes that we traverse on our bikes. Some of us ride the ancient
Appalachians and its mixed forests, others spend weekends pedaling the
sub-alpine of the Rocky Mountains while flowy Arizona singletrack starts
on the end of some of our streets. In certain regions the land changes
dramatically from one town to the next and a single ride can offer
staggering diversity.
Paulo Valle (trail builder and riding guide) is just like the rest of
us, he loves to ride trails and hunt for new zones. His backyard is
different than anything that we have in North America. Valle, you see,
lives in San Jose, Costa Rica.

For most of us, Costa Rica conjures up images of lounging half naked
in the sun on a sandy beach sipping on a cold cerveza after a surf
session. Up from the hot coastlines of the Pacific and Caribbean are
vast and rugged rainforest-clad mountains and active volcanoes make up
one of the most biodiverse places in the world. It’s not uncommon to
hear a noisy Mantled howler monkey in the forest canopy, or see a
red-eyed tree frog on a giant leaf, or a colorful Scarlet Macaw parrot
in the sky above. What people don’t know, along with the amazing
biodiversity lies an amazing web of nearly unknown hand-built trails.

As it is for most mountain bikers, land use is a challenge, and it’s
no exception in this Central American country where every inch of the
land is privately owned or protected and people’s idea of mountain
biking consists of dirt roads. To ride good singletrack Valle has had to
build his own, and to do this he’s had to network with landowners to
earn their trust. Sculpting singletrack in the remote, steep and dense
rainforest is no easy task. Maintaining these trails is a whole other
matter in a place where tremendous buckets of water fall during the
rainy season, and plants grow like they’re on steroids. After the rains
stop, Valle and his team of machete-wielding locals disappear into the
forest to clear the new growth and shape the newly eroded sections so
that bikes can flow down the mountains. Considering the great effort
that has gone into building and the lack of bikes that the trails see,
one feels privileged to ride good singletrack in Costa Rica.

In his proud and understated manner, Valle has designed and
diligently built an impressive web of fun and technical trails over the
years. His creations reflect the way that he rides; strong like an ox on
the climbs and equally so on the descents. Don’t expect to find a map
or to drop into a San Jose to lead you to the goods, Valle’s had to keep
his bounty under the radar to satisfy the landowners and keep the
masses from schralping it. There is an exception however; you can
explore the unique landscape of Costa Rica on Valle’s trails with the
man himself by contacting Whistler-based guiding company Big Mountain Adventures who offer downhill and all-mountain trips exclusively with Valle.
From your backyard trail to Valle’s, we are all inherent explorers and we long to ride our bikes in new terrain.

A bit from the guide, Paulo Valle:
I’m a bit perennial rider, I been biking since I was a kid. I started
riding BMX and then mountain bikes in the early 90’s. Having gears on
my bike really opened a whole new world to me.
Thanks to mountain biking, I have met some great friends and
travelled to many unreal places. As a former racer, what I’m most proud
of is to be able to ride as much as I want without having a number plate
on my bike or aiming for a finish line.
Geographically Costa Rica is a small but very intense country, you
can drive coast to coast in four hours and in between there is nothing
but mountains, some as high as 3,800 meters (12,400 feet). Most people
come to Costa Rica for the beaches, but there are many unexplored gems
higher up.
There a lot land access issues in Costa Rica. Basically, public land
doesn’t exist. I wish that we had as much public land as other bigger
countries, but somehow I also think that our shortage of public land
makes trail riding here more special.

A great trail should be a mix of vertical drop, flow and challenge.
Put it in a jungle rainforest in the middle of nowhere and it makes it
even better. That’s what we ride here.
Ride in Costa Rica and you feel like the trail was built exclusively
for you, on areas that even the Lonely Planet doesn’t know exists.
You’ll feel the country’s real vibe from the land and the locals that
helped give Costa Rica the title of the “happiest place on earth.” Pura
Vida!
It’s always warm here. If you are from the northern hemisphere, it
doesn’t sound too bad to take a break from freezing temperatures during
the winter and go biking where the sun is shining.
Cross-country riding is actually quite popular in Costa Rica. To most
of the local riders, cross country means dirt roads. Road riding is
also a very big scene here.